I don’t often reference past blog posts, but in this case it
is necessary. If you read Travelers not
Tourists (and I strongly suggest you do), you read my recommendation to venture
further than Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.
I have a slight correction to this…
If you are in need of a spectacular beach vacation, venture just a
couple of kilometers south of PV to Boca de Tomatlan. This is where we had a once in a lifetime
weekend.
We were told it was 4 hours, and Jon worked til 4, so we
hoped to arrive at 8ish. The windy
mountain roads of Mexico offer spectacular views, but do nothing to help an
ETA. We didn’t pull into to this tiny
waterfront town until after 10:00. We
knew we had to get a water taxi to the resort, and being northerners we thought
this would be easy. Yeah, no.
Not a word of English in the convenience store or the tiny
clothing store that we were lucky to find open for us at this hour. But enough Spanish to express our dilemma: we didn’t bring a boat, and we needed a ride. The lovely senora yelled up to the apartment
over her store to Javier a water taxi owner, who was up, but insisted he needed
to call the hotel before taking us over there.
I thought this was silly. We had
a reservation, and I know they’re fully booked.
Just bring us there. If there are
any problems, I’m happy to pay a fee to be brought back to the mainland. He
seemed to hesitate and then concede, and then told us to take off our jeans and
shoes and put on shorts. Sure, just to
get in and out of the water taxi – right?
A little unnerving, but beautiful moonlit 5 minute boat ride
took us off shore of our hotel. He
flashed his light towards shore, and whistled until someone acknowledged. I just thought he was covering his bases
before bringing his boat ashore for us to gingerly jump off. Ummm no.
They use the crashing waves OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN to time
handing off your luggage to a hotel employee who is in the water and carrying
your bags to shore. They also use the waves to tell you when to get out of the boat.
As the waves are crashing, and there is no light, and Jon is hurling bags
to a man, I am being yelled at in Spanish.
My language skills are not accustomed to these conditions. And then I hear in English – “JUMP NOW,
TINA!!!” My eyes bulge, as I say,
“Ahoritta?? (right now??)” “SI!!!!!” I throw myself over the side of the boat
and jump in and I am helped to the shore as Jon immediately jumps in. He’s up to his knees which means I’m up to my
waist. We’re officially at the beach.
We woke up to breakfast being delivered to our private
dining area, and another warm welcome from the staff. We walked the beach and decided to spend some
time secluded from the common area, restaurant, and shared beach.
When we finally made our way we found lounge
chairs, umbrellas, food and beverage services that didn’t stop, a yoga platform overlooking the ocean, a DJ spinning a beachside mix – paradise. We swam, sunbathed, snorkeled, ate and
drank. Our beach music.
Each night the staff made a
bonfire for us on our private beach and delivered our food and drinks to
us. The manager visited and shared a
beer around the fire and talked about his life and adventures. He mentioned to me that there are other spots
accessible only by boat, and so I surprised Jon by booking a private boat to
take us.
With our guide Alex we visited a waterfall, saw a whale, saw
seals, ate lobster on the beach, and Jon got to snorkel in secluded areas. While snorkeling, Jon entered a cave filled
with thousands of bats. He said it was
awesome. I’ll take his word for it.
My final weekend in Mexico was extraordinary. I couldn’t be
happier that I struck up a conversation in a sushi restaurant, and it threw me
from a boat and onto a shore.
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